Students’ Attitude towards Teachers’ Urdu Code-Switching in ESL Class-Rooms at University of Management & Technology Lahore

In multilingual classrooms such as in Pakistan most of the individuals have the knowledge of two or more languages, the linguistic phenomenon of combining languages is quite frequent. “A common term for alternative use of two or more languages, varieties of a language or even speech styles” is called code-switching (Hymes, 1974). The present article investigates the students’ attitudes to Urdu code-switching (CS) used by teachers in English as a Second Language classes at University of Management & Technology Lahore. A sample of 30 students studying at undergraduate level has been taken. Quantitative approach of data analysis has been used to investigate the responses. A 10-item questionnaire was developed and distributed among the students. The closed questions of the questionnaires were analyzed statistically by using the SPSS program. The results display that students have positive attitude towards teachers’ code-switching in ESL class-rooms and teachers’ code-switching is an effective teaching strategy when teaching English in Pakistani scenario. Keywords: Code-switching, Attitude, Investigation, ESL class

Giant choroid plexus papilloma of the third ventricle

Abstract are not provided by the author/publishe

A trend analysis and sub-regional distribution in number of people living with HIV and dying with TB in Africa, 1991 to 2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The tuberculosis (TB) bacillus and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have formed a powerful alliance and are together responsible for more than five million deaths per year. TB is leading to increased mortality rates among people living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The aim of this study was to investigate the geographical and temporal distribution of TB-HIV deaths in Africa in order to identify possible high-risk areas.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Time trends in the 16-year study period from 1990 to 2005 were analyzed by multilevel Poisson growth curve models. Moran global and local indicators of spatial associations were used to test for evidence of global and local spatial clustering respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eastern, Southern, Western, and Middle Africa experienced an upward trend in the number of reported TB-HIV deaths. The spatial distribution of TB cases was non-random and clustered, with a Moran's I = 0.454 (p = .001). Spatial clustering suggested that 13 countries were at increased risk of TB-HIV deaths, and six countries could be grouped as "hot spots".</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Evidence shows that there is no decline in growth in the number of deaths due to TB among HIV positive in most Africa countries. There is presence of 'hot-spots' and very large differences persist between sub-regions. Only by tackling TB and HIV together will progress be made in reversing the burden of both diseases. There is a great need for scale-up of preventive interventions such as the World Health Organization '3I's strategy' (intensified case finding, isoniazid preventive therapy and infection control).</p

Carum carvi Modulates Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity: Effects on TNF-α, NF-κB, and Caspases

Carum carvi is a well-known herb traditionally used as a spice in Asian countries. Acetaminophen is a known marketed drug mainly used as an analgesic. It has been scientifically proven that consumption of acetaminophen (paracetamol) is associated with liver toxicity if taken in high doses without medical supervision. The present study evaluated the in vivo antioxidant and hepatoprotective efficacy of Carum carvi against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. Our results demonstrate that Carum carvi, at doses (mg/kg) of 100 (D1) and 200 (D2), showed inhibitory properties for DNA-sugar damage, lipid peroxidation, DPPH scavenging, and increased reducing potential in a concentration-dependent manner. Our results also confirm that liver toxicity associated with paracetamol, such as depletion of reduced glutathione and antioxidant enzyme levels, as well as induction of cytochrome P450, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory cytokines, was efficiently restored by Carum carvi treatment in rats. Moreover, the expression of redox-sensitive transcription factors, namely, NF-κB and TNF-α levels, was also modulated by Carum carvi in the rats. In summary, our study confirms that Carum carvi inhibits inflammation and oxidative stress, thereby protecting liver cells from paracetamol prompted hepatotoxicity

Sclerotherapy plus octreotide versus sclerotherapy alone in the management of gastro-oesophageal variceal hemorrhage

Background: There are different ways for controlling oesophageal variceal bleed which include pharmacological and endoscopic methods. In this study we compare efficacy of octreotide (50 g/hr for 48 hours) combined with sclerotherapy versus sclerotherapy alone in patients with acute bleeding from gastro-oesophageal varices (GOV).Methods: It was a randomized clinical controlled trial conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 1997 to December 1998. We evaluated the role of octreotide (50 g/hr for 48 hours) combined with sclerotherapy versus sclerotherapy alone in a total of 105 adult cirrhotic patients who had acute bleeding from GOV. Patients were assigned to receive octreotide plus sclerotherapy or sclerotherapy alone. Primary outcome measure was 5-day survival without rebleeding. The hospital stay in days and blood transfusion requirements were also compared in the combined treatment group versus sclerotherapy alone group.Results: Initial control of bleeding was achieved in 46/51 (90.2%) patients who received combined treatment compared to 41/54 (75.9%) patients (p = 0.05) in sclerotherapy alone group. Rebleeding after the first 48 hours was less in the octreotide treated patients 2/46 vs. 8/41 patients (p = 0.003). The octreotide treated patients had a better short term (5 days) survival without rebleeding 44/51 vs. 33/54 (p = 0.003) and shorter hospital stay, 5.31 +/- 3.87 days vs. 6.63 +/- 3.86 (p = 0.008) as compared to sclerotherapy alone group. The blood transfusion requirement was also less in the combined treatment group 3.88 +/- 2.80 vs. 5.37 +/- 3.15 units (p = 0.002).CONCLUSION: 1) The combination of sclerotherapy, and octreotide infusion over 48 hours is more effective than sclerotherapy alone in the treatment of acute variceal bleeding and prevention of early rebleed in cirrhotic patients. 2) It leads to shorter hospital stay and 3) less blood transfusion requirements. 4) Although early survival without rebleeding is improved, the overall mortality at the end of hospitalization period is similar in the two groups of treated patients

An Efficient and Secure Energy Trading Approach with Machine Learning Technique and Consortium Blockchain

In this paper, a secure energy trading mechanism based on blockchain technology is proposed. The proposed model deals with energy trading problems such as insecure energy trading and inefficient charging mechanisms for electric vehicles (EVs) in a vehicular energy network (VEN). EVs face two major problems: finding an optimal charging station and calculating the exact amount of energy required to reach the selected charging station. Moreover, in traditional trading approaches, centralized parties are involved in energy trading, which leads to various issues such as increased computational cost, increased computational delay, data tempering and a single point of failure. Furthermore, EVs face various energy challenges, such as imbalanced load supply and fluctuations in voltage level. Therefore, a demand-response (DR) pricing strategy enables EV users to flatten load curves and efficiently adjust electricity usage. In this work, communication between EVs and aggregators is efficiently performed through blockchain. Moreover, a branching concept is involved in the proposed system, which divides EV data into two different branches: a Fraud Chain (F-chain) and an Integrity Chain (I-chain). The proposed branching mechanism helps solve the storage problem and reduces computational time. Moreover, an attacker model is designed to check the robustness of the proposed system against double-spending and replay attacks. Security analysis of the proposed smart contract is also given in this paper. Simulation results show that the proposed work efficiently reduces the charging cost and time in a VEN.publishedVersio

(±)-4,12,15,18,26-Penta­hydroxy-13,17-dioxahepta­cyclo­[14.10.0.03,14.04,12.06,11.018,26.019,24]hexa­cosa-1,3(14),6(11),7,9,15,19,21,23-nona­ene-5,25-dione monohydrate

The title compound, C24H14O9·H2O, displays a cup-shaped form. The water mol­ecule is disordered over two set of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.78:0.22. The mol­ecule of the compound has four stereocenters and corresponds to the SSRR/RRSS diastereoisomer. In the mol­ecule, the maximum dihedral angle between the planar benzene rings is 80.40 (4)°. The H atoms of the hy­droxy groups are engaged in hydrogen bonding, forming infinite chains parallel to the a axis. These chains are inter­linked through water mol­ecules, resulting in the formation of a two-dimensional network parallel to the (001) plane. Futhermore C—H⋯O, C—H⋯π and slipped π–π inter­actions result in the formation of a three-dimensional network

mm-CUR: A Novel Ubiquitous, Contact-free, and Location-aware Counterfeit Currency Detection in Bundles Using Millimeter-Wave Sensor

Target material sensing in non-invasive and ubiquitous contexts plays an important role in various applications. Recently, a few wireless sensing systems have been proposed for material identification. In this paper, we introduce mm-CUR, A Novel Ubiquitous, Contact-free, and Location-aware Counterfeit Currency Detection in Bundles using a Millimeter-Wave Sensor. This system eliminates the need for individual note inspection and pinpoints the location of counterfeit notes within the bundle. We use Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar sensors to classify different counterfeit currency bundles on a tabletop setup. To extract informative features for currency detection from FMCW signals, we construct a Radio Frequency Snapshot (RFS) and build signal scalogram representations that capture the distinct patterns of currency received from different currency bundles. We refine the RFS by eliminating multi-path interference, and noise cancellation and apply high pass filters for mitigating the smearing effect with the continuous wavelet transform (CWT). To broaden the usage of mm-CUR, we built a transferable learning model that yields robust detection results in different scenarios. The classification results demonstrated that the proposed counterfeit currency detection system can detect counterfeit notes in 100-note bundles with an accuracy greater than 93%. Compared to the standard CNN and DNN methods, the proposed mm-CUR model showed superior performance in distinguishing each bundle data, even for a limited-size dataset

University of Mississippi Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Center

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/pharm_annual_posters_2024/1010/thumbnail.jp

University of Mississippi Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Center

Department/Unit poster (NCNPR). Corresponding author: Nirmal Pugh ([email protected])https://egrove.olemiss.edu/pharm_annual_posters_2022/1016/thumbnail.jp